metal j-hooks

[tweakxc03]

both of the squat racks at my gym have metal j-hooks with no plastic or rubber on them, which has completely worn away the knurling on the bars they have there around the snatch grip area.

I am strongly considering buying my own b&r bar to keep there, at least for the oly lifts, but I should just keep using their bars for squats and presses, right? I don't want to spend $ on a new bar and then have it get messed up.

[Cody]

both of the squat racks at my gym have metal j-hooks with no plastic or rubber on them, which has completely worn away the knurling on the bars they have there around the snatch grip area.

I am strongly considering buying my own b&r bar to keep there, at least for the oly lifts, but I should just keep using their bars for squats and presses, right? I don't want to spend $ on a new bar and then have it get messed up.

I wouldn't get the B&R for the sole purpose of doing Olympic lifts. It's a great all-around bar, but it is a 29mm bushing bar. If you want a bar specifically for the Olympic lifts, get the right tool for the job. The Rogue WL bar or the Eleiko Sport Training bar are both excellent choices.

You only have to make the purchase once. The barbell will be your lifetime partner in gainzZz.

[jillingworth]

Do you have enough control over the gym to make sure no one else uses your bar in the racks? It might be worth the time to put a liner in the j-hooks

[tweakxc03]

Cody: Isn't WL spec 28mm? Am I really going to be able to tell that much of a difference vs. a 29mm? Regarding the bearing vs. bushing bar, I've read on here that a good bushing bar that is well-maintained will spin enough that I won't be able to tell the difference.

Also keep in mind the relative difference vs. what I am training with right now. It's a rogue bushing bar that's been completely beat to shit with zero snatch grip knurl. It might be 28mm. I had to tell the head trainer to oil it b/c it was starting to lock up.

The thing is spending $600+ on a bar right now is somewhat out of my price range for the near term. Longer term my plan is to have my own at-home gym, at which time I can add the bearing bar and have both available.

As for security, I can buy a lock for the bar and put it in their bar storage holder and nobody will mess with it. A trainer at my gym does the same thing w/ his bearing bar.

[tweakxc03]

Follow-up question ... for those of you that have garage gyms... isn't rust an issue? I live in Charlotte, NC, where it gets very humid during the summers, so I imagine that would make maintenance on the bar and plates more difficult.

[Cody]

The difference of 0.5mm is noticeable, so yes, there is a large difference between 28 and 29mm. It's not just grip, but also "whip" or flex, since that is almost entirely dependant on diameter. Most Rogue barbellsare 28.5mm, fwiw.

As far as the garage issue goes, depends on how close you are to the ocean, really. I have a women's B&R bar that just gets wiped with wd40 every couple weeks, no issues. Obviously none of my coated bars have an issue either. I live in NW Georgia. I have friends in Louisiana that can't keep equipment nice, though.

Edit: to continue my thought, Hanley and Fiegenbaum assure me that the two bars mentioned earlier are basically all that's worth getting. I'm not a great Olympic lifter, so I just trust them on that part.

[Charlie Davies]

I kept my plain-steel bar in the garage in central Ohio over the summer, it hasn't been a problem. Our summers are only a little cooler and dryer than yours I believe.

[hollismb]

Follow-up question ... for those of you that have garage gyms... isn't rust an issue? I live in Charlotte, NC, where it gets very humid during the summers, so I imagine that would make maintenance on the bar and plates more difficult.

I'm in Atlanta (Cody is somewhere nearby too, I think), and I don't have issues with rust in my garage gym. My bars are black oxide, not bare steel, but I also brush them down with a nylon brush after every workout to get the chalk out, and occasionally wipe them with a little bit of oil and brush then wipe them with a rag to really get them clean.

[Cody]

I'm in Atlanta (Cody is somewhere nearby too, I think), and I don't have issues with rust in my garage gym. My bars are black oxide, not bare steel, but I also brush them down with a nylon brush after every workout to get the chalk out, and occasionally wipe them with a little bit of oil and brush then wipe them with a rag to really get them clean.

Yeah, I'm in Dallas, GA. It's around an hour W-NW of Atlanta (technically in the metro, but you wouldn't know it). Summers are 100% humidity the entire time, lol.

I only brush the chalk out just before I wd40, and I do all my bars at once, not just the bare steel bar. Something else to consider is body chemistry- some people's sweat is more corrosive than other's. My training partner and I have relatively non-corrosive sweat, apparently.

[John Hanley]

The difference of 0.5mm is noticeable, so yes, there is a large difference between 28 and 29mm. It's not just grip, but also "whip" or flex, since that is almost entirely dependant on diameter. Most Rogue barbellsare 28.5mm, fwiw.

As far as the garage issue goes, depends on how close you are to the ocean, really. I have a women's B&R bar that just gets wiped with wd40 every couple weeks, no issues. Obviously none of my coated bars have an issue either. I live in NW Georgia. I have friends in Louisiana that can't keep equipment nice, though.

Edit: to continue my thought, Hanley and Fiegenbaum assure me that the two bars mentioned earlier are basically all that's worth getting. I'm not a great Olympic lifter, so I just trust them on that part.

At their price points (~$500-600), they're the best oly bars I've used. Super nice.

For the general population doing fast lifts in the context of a gen strength program, the B&R is fine.

But, yeah, I vastly prefer the Eleiko for fast lifts.